Alias/Page 47

Page 47
Season 1, Episode 15
Airdate	March 3, 2002
Production Number	E644
Written by	J.J. Abrams, Jeff Pinkner
Directed by	Ken Olin
← 1x14 The Coup	1x16 → The Prophecy
Alias — Season One

Page 47 is the fifteenth episode of the first season of Alias. Will gets forced to make a critical decision between the story and his life.

Starring: Jennifer Garner (Sydney Bristow), Ron Rifkin (Arvin Sloane), Michael Vartan (Michael Vaughn), Bradley Cooper (Will Tippin), Merrin Dungey (Francie Calfo), Carl Lumbly (Marcus Dixon), Kevin Weisman (Marshall Flinkman)

and Victor Garber (Jack Bristow)

Guest Starring: Sarah Shahi (Jenny)

and Amy Irving (Emily Sloane)

Co-Starring: Michelle Arthur (Abigail), Jorgo Ognenovski (Kessar), Bryan Rasmussen (Officer Cohen)

Featuring: Don Took (Agent Grey)

Uncredited: Ken Olin (David McNeil)

Plot Overview

Under fire from a guard below, Sydney cuts her rope and swings back across the street through the glass to safety. Dressing a mannequin in her hat and sending it down the elevator, she is able to distract the pursuing guard long enough to surprise him and knock him out. When Sark's gunman follows her, Dixon shoots him and the two are able to escape unharmed.

Although the footage of the meeting and assassination are useful, and Sydney copies it for the CIA, they have no information on "The Man". Analysis of Sark's speech pattern suggest he spends considerable time in Galway, Ireland. SD-6 is intent on collecting the Rambaldi book from K-Directorate before they can exchange it for the $100 million and their new leader, Kassar, who is being held captive. The operation is to intercept the K-Directorate boat in Tunisia. Sydney, posing as a Russian tourist in search of gasoline knocks out the crew and breaks into the briefcase containing the book. Photographing the book for CIA, she uses the boat to escape with the book as Sark arrives for the meeting.

Sloane has gotten hold of prison security camera footage of Will meeting with McNeil and is convinced that Will must be killed. Jack instead offers to get audio confirmation of what Will really knows to prevent another person dying in Sydney's life. Placing a covert bug on Will, Jack overhears the revelation that many of the 48 companies shows to have used the McNeil encryption were headed by the same CEO. Alan Cristof apparently was a member of the CIA's counterintelligence unit 12 years ago and gives apparent evidence as to who is responsible for all that has happened.

Jack, in ski mask and with a voice modulator, kidnaps Will in a tunnel and takes him to an abandoned building. Threatening his family and Sydney, he forces Will to give up his investigation. Sloane has Jack followed and isn't convinced as Will schedules another meeting with McNeil. With one of Sloane's assassins outside the prison waiting, they listen in on the two. Will makes it clear that he's in the same position that McNeil is in and can't risk his friends and family and will drop the case, indirectly sparing his life.

CIA examination of the photographed Rambaldi book pages shows that a critical page, the 47th, is apparently blank. Knowing it contains hidden information, they prompt Sydney to recover it. Under the pretense of visiting Sloane's ailing wife, whom Sydney is already friends with, they plan for her to drop off a bug in Sloane's office and replace Page 47 with a real blank page. Sydney, originally objecting to using her friendship with Emily for CIA purposes, is asked to bring a friend to a dinner with Sloane and chooses to bring Will. Will, unwittingly face to face with his would be killers, joins the genial dinner while Sloane brings her aside to show her the book before it is shipped off to England for analysis. Noting a personal obsession with the Rambaldi mystery, he puts the book back into his personal vault. During dinner, Emily Sloane notes that she has read an award winning and inspiring story by Will. Emily relates the summary about a slave driving boss whose employees are at risk of death, uncomfortably echoing the situation Jack, Sydney, and Sloane are in. Sydney excuses herself on the pretense of talking with Francie. Using a scrambler to break into the vault, she replaces Page 47, and closes the vault just as Sloane comes in the room although it is unclear how much he has seen.

The CIA find that the vial that McKenas Cole stole from SD-6 is a solution that reveals what Page 47 shows. The pages leading up to it described a critical "100 seconds" and Page 47, made 200 years ago, is shown to have an illustration of Sydney Bristow's face.

Notes

• Sydney beats two guards in hand to hand combat. Dixon shoots one guard.

• Sydney uses a breath spray knockout gas. Jack's agent places a nearly invisible transmitter on Will. Vaughn's CIA team creates a vault code descrambler in a tube of lipstick as well as a bug concealed in a paper clip.

• Sydney poses as a Russian tourist in search of gas for her motorboat.

47

• The blank page in the Rambaldi manuscript. We're also told that the 47th page is always significant in Rambaldi's documents.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Jack orchestrates a kidnapping of Will and threatens his family and friends to drop his investigation into SD-6. Taking it seriously, Will tells McNeil that he will not pursue any further, oblivious that he's being monitored by SD-6, which is satisfied upon hearing this.

• Rambaldi's blank page is deciphered and reveals an illustration that bears an uncanny resemblance to Sydney.

Characters

• Will breaks up with Jenny and she quits the job as his assistant.

Referbacks

• The Rambaldi book was partially photographed by Sydney before being stolen by Anna Espinosa in "Time Will Tell".

• The vial used to decipher Page 47 was the one McKenas Cole stole from SD-6 in "The Box".

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Many of the illustrations in the Rambaldi pages are Leonardo Da Vinci's illustrations.

Quotes

• Sydney: This is a bug?

Vaughn: It's good, huh? You should see the guys who make it. It's like they've never seen sunlight.

Sydney: Well, you should meet Marshall.